A Pleasant Visit To Huntsman

There’s a festive reindeer in the window of Savile Row tailors Huntsman. There is some dispute among the staff as to whether it is, in fact, a reindeer, or a mere stag. But it is definitely dressed in a spotty red silk scarf. And its name is Brian.

Chatting to some of the cutters and tailors there last week, it was interesting to hear that the back part of the ground floor was only opened up four years ago. As this back section houses all the cutting, with five full-time cutters on board now, it seems natural to have it on view. A feeling of involvement with your clothes is a key benefit of bespoke, and without this open plan the connection would be lost.

It’s also a wonderfully bright room, the ceiling being almost entirely skylight. But that does make it noisy when it rains.

Talking of the cutters, it was noteworthy that one is now dedicated to women’s tailoring. Having a woman in this role makes a vast difference, as I have seen with my own eyes when men’s tailors take the measurements, and discuss style preferences, of women. No matter how discreet the tailors are, it is not easy for many a woman to discuss her shape. And even harder to communicate how she’d like something to be cut.

Far easier if the cutter is a woman trained in womenswear and coming fresh to Savile Row tailoring, rather than the other way around.

It was good to chat to some of the other staff as well, who demonstrate an impressive range in ages. The first-floor room is more youthful than any other I have visited in Savile Row, with three young tailors. Looks can be deceiving though – coatmaker David Hayes started as an apprentice at Huntsman 12 years ago and has now trained the other two. One of them showed off a gorgeous tweed shawl-collar jacket of his own design (after some jeering from his colleagues). Down in the basement, a rather older generation is led by finisher Sybil Dance, who has served Huntsman for 57 years. She claims to have started when she was two.

Sybil also loves the reindeer, but maintains it should be called Rudolph.

The pattern room is fascinating to browse – full of both client patterns and works in progress. I was struck by one coat in particular, a wool coat in a large herringbone pattern, alternating grey and bright blue. Lovely.

Being Huntsman, tweeds stand out as well. After a relatively muted range last year, this year’s offerings are far brighter and – in that way – more typical of Huntsman. The Bridgend and Ellen are deceptive, a conservative ground allowing pink, mauve, orange and turquoise to play in the checks. And the Finlaggen and Charlotte, with their stronger vertical lines, have been much photographed in recent magazine shoots. All are exclusive to Huntsman, the collection rounded off with the Bowmore.

Craftiness

The English are a crafty people –in every sense of the word.

A case in point, yesterday I went to the Cockpit Arts open day for Christmas shoppers. Cockpit Arts is a local authority run set of workshop spaces for London’s craftsmen, and aspiring new design talent. This space is unique not only because of the vast array of talent working there, from bespoke shoe makers Deborah Carré and James Ducker, screen printers and jewellery makers to cashmere weavers, it’s also in central London –not a place known for cheap rents.

Not everything on offer was to my taste but aside from picking up a little pottery, I also bought these wonderful screen printed handkerchiefs from Thornback & Peel. Made by hand in their Cockpit work space, they’re not flash but they did appeal right away.

I like to wear a white handkerchief in my top pocket and while, likely as not, the world will never see the pattern on them, I like knowing it’s there. And if ever called into service it’s certainly more distinguished and individual than monograms. I picked up three for £10.

While my purchases won’t be to everybody’s taste, it is illustrative of a broader point. When purchasing items of clothing or apparel it’s common to think that hand made individuality can only be achieved by engaging high cost bespoke tailors, shoe makers and the like. We often neglect that other category, the aspiring hobbyist/craftsman. Up and down the country you can find craft fairs and exhibitions going on. And I doubt the UK is alone in this.

You may think this all sounds a bit too folksy, naff even, for aspirant men of style and flair. But such people and events can provide a low cost means for acquiring hand crafted individuality.

The Coat Project 5

We’re almost there with the camel polo coat. Since I covered it last we’ve had a second basted fitting, where it was ripped apart again and re-cut. Then it went away to be made-up and today I had the final fitting – all complete save buttons and cuffs.

A coat is not usually cut to fit snugly over just a shirt, so at every stage we have taken in the waist a little. At this stage we took in an inch more, but I think that is enough – any more and it would look too shaped, rather effeminate. In the picture you see here I am wearing just a shirt underneath, and it fits quite snugly on the waist now (with the pleat in the back at its smallest setting). Obviously that means the shoulders are a tiny bit big, but nothing you can do about that – you can’t alter the shoulders every time you take your jacket off.

The pleat that we planned all the way up the back has been altered slightly (search this site for Coat Project to see all the history). Rather than starting at the neck, it now starts three inches above the waist. We decided that a full-length pleat sacrificed too much control over the fit of the back. This way there is still a lot of room to alter the lower back, waist and hips but the top of the coat will retain a consistent shape.

At the initial design stage I was afraid the raised seam, double breast and patch pockets would look too busy. But the raised seam is very subtle, neat, possibly even smart. (I asked that the raised seam be added to the welt of the patch pocket on the final coat as well.)

I am also particularly pleased with how the split sleeve worked out – lining up the shoulder seam with this is not easy, but looks very sharp (see below).

And I lowered the button stance slightly – the three buttons can be seen marked on here in chalk. This was to balance with the length of the coat. You can also see a chalk mark where I have requested the sleeves to be shortened slightly. Coat sleeves should completely cover jacket sleeves and shirtsleeves, but then I like my jacket sleeves short anyway.

In the picture you can also see that the overlap of the coat partly covers one of the patch pockets. This is because we extended the overlap as part of the extra waisting; that pocket will be moved further round.

Finally, you will notice from the below pic that the patch pocket is sloped outwards towards the bottom. I assumed this was a sporting detail to accommodate gun shells etc, but apparently it is so that the two edges of the pocket are parallel to the front edge of the coat and the side seam. As the coat is gently flared, so too are the pockets… Apparently all flaps on suit jackets should be sloped in a similar manner, they are just too short to notice.

Hopefully final coat next Tuesday!

A Hard Hitting Endorsement

I spotted this in the Daily Mail last week. It seems Bermondsey born, WBA Heavyweight World Champion, and all round good egg, David ‘The Hayemaker’ Haye is a fan of Nino’s shirts. I think you’d be hard pushed to find a more heavyweight endorsement than that.

I mention it because I’ve been singing the praises of Nino Santoro on BespokeMe for years. In fact I think Nino was one of the first interviews I did.  He is what I class as a designer/enthusiast and while many people promise original few really deliver. Well, Nino does.

Shirts are to him what canvas and paint are to great artists, and wearing one of his shirts is the ultimate in self expression and self confidence. And you’ll be hard pressed to find a better made off the peg shirt in many ways. Whether you go for the bold colours and intricate patterns or the more subtle solids each is special because of the painstaking attention to detail. A maximum of 18 in any one design is ever made.

Each shirt is made from 2 fold Egyptian cotton, single needle stitching and manufactured in Italy. Everything from the padding in the collars and cuffs to the buttons is specially imported, and each shirt has hand stitched button wholes. This care in part stems from a family which is steeped in tailoring. His father, Franco, is a well know and highly respected London bespoke tailor, and Nino’s uncle was in charge of Brioni. I should say that Nino also offers a bespoke shirt service.

I suspect some people would be a bit overwhelmed by some of the designs. But the key is simply dressing them down, and, I think, pairing them with ultra classic or conformist pieces. One of his shirts that I own is a combination of mixed yellow butchers stripes with blue inlays around the collar and cuffs. This works wonderfully with a classic double breasted blazer.  That said I’m a big fan of the plain shirts, in particular the white and the pale blue pique pattern. In my opinion the ultimate work shirt.

Returning to the article, if you read it in full it’s clear that Haye, like Ali before him to name but one, is something of a clothes and style addict. Indeed, he lists George Dyer as his tailor, which given we share the same taste in shirt maker might be worth a look.

Let’s Hear It For Baron Of Piccadilly

If I am ever seen in bookshops, I am often seen flicking through intriguing nostalgia-picturebooks with titles like ‘Old London’ or, less prosaically, ‘Fallen Grandeur.’ I have an extraordinary appetite for discovering the forgotten and long-since demolished; I experience a bizarre thrill, and often a seething rage, when I look over drawings and turn-of-the-century photographs of magnificent stone edifices, some fifteen or twenty years in construction, that were bulldozed for throwaway reasons such as ‘impractical for modern use’ or ‘ of an unremarkable style.’ I am especially angered when these buildings are replaced with monstrosities that have no aesthetic merit, zero public affection and no link or sympathy with the structures surrounding them.

One of my saddest recent reads was of the old artisan, boutique establishments that began life in the proud imperial age; milliners, countless cobblers, tie-makers and sock makers. Anything that a well-heeled gentleman might require; expertly manufactured and sold by dedicated, passionate tradesmen who knew their craft well. I was sad to read of their demise, their shop closures and takeovers – even though I had never known their trade in my own lifetime. Imagine my ire when I read of the upcoming ‘redevelopment’ (read: demolition) of the eastern corner of Piccadilly and Jermyn Street – an entire block of, yes hotchpotch, but nonetheless charming and idiosyncratic establishments. Most significant among these are the lovely Bates hat shop, virtually unchanged since the 1920s – a remarkable milliner that count David Bowie and Eric Clapton among their customers and, on the Piccadilly side, another time-warp establishment - the suit-and-overcoat shop ‘Baron of Piccadilly.’

Walking into Baron is a disarming experience that could certainly be eased by viewing several episodes of ‘Are You Being Served?’ Firstly, the chap at the desk enquires, politely but with clear intent, as to what you are interested in. Once this has been established, he hails to his relevant colleague (not by their Christian names, but as ‘Mister’) to assist. On the occasion of my entry I wanted to look at the suits.

I was escorted upstairs, which on a Saturday afternoon was sadly completely empty, and was amazed to see a vast treasure trove of classic single and double-breasted woollen suits. More significantly, they had a great number of styles in my size. “You’ve come just at the right time, sir” the suit assistant whispered to me “we’re closing down soon!” It was uttered in an amused hush but you could hear in his voice a slight cracking that indicated an internal mourning; he must have repeated this to every customer who ascended those stairs, but it was clear the words weren’t getting any easier to say.

Many shops are claimed to be ‘old school’ or ‘time-warps’ – anything with an Edwardian interior, mosaic entrance or etched glass windows is considered to be ‘stepping back in time’, but Baron, despite being wedged in a relatively modern 1960s renovation, is the real thing. The kindly service, the formality of payment and the arrangement of the clothing is of a style and a function no longer seen. By the end of 2009, this remarkable establishment will be no more. When I spoke to the manager of the suits about the future, whether Baron intended to pick up another lease nearby he shook his head confidently. “No, this is it for us. We’ll never find another location like this again.” Words to that effect, unfortunately, were also spoken by a representative of Bates.

Baron has, as you would expect, an outstanding closing down sale in progress. Suits, overcoats and accessories, made to a standard no longer seen in that price range, that will surely in time become collectors items. These coming weeks pose a great opportunity to purchase a piece of retailing history – at a bargain price.